


The Other Side

by lgbtqhowell



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gay, M/M, Regret
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 17:32:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16580948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lgbtqhowell/pseuds/lgbtqhowell
Summary: a dan and phil fanfiction based on the greatest showman.





	The Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> hello!  
> sorry i post every 7 years but i've worked on this one for a hot minute. enjoy!

Daniel Howell had a circus. A circus full of curious acts. Acts such as: the heaviest man in the world, an Irish "giant," a man who had tattooed his entire body, and about fifteen other people who had one obviously strange aspect about them. Just a few months ago, he had almost no money. He'd lost his already low paying job and had no other source of income. He tried many different strange things, a wax museum being one, to keep himself off the streets. But none worked. That was until the circus.  
He advertised it everywhere. Billboards, trucks, milk cartons. He needed strange people. The strange people flooded in. Soon, he had a team of about twenty "freaks," for lack of better word. Once the team got close, he constantly reminded them how amazing they were. How it didn't matter what the other people said, they were beautiful. The team was unstoppable; every show got better and better as their confidence grew. They danced, sang, and one woman even did trapeze.  
Despite Dan's huge success, some of his town hated his show. They hated his team. They called them names, told them to go back to where they came from. Dan obviously didn't like this. He couldn't control it, though; after time, there was a fairly large group of people who despised Dan and spread rumors about him and his team. He wanted to stop this, but he couldn't. So he just continued his show, in turn continuing the hate.

* * *

It was a show day. The performance due to start in about fifteen minutes, and everyone was backstage, getting into costume and practicing their part. They did a very complex dance routine every night, starting with the very beginning of the song the team danced to playing and the audience stomping to the beat and yelling when prompted. Then, during a quiet part of the song, Dan started his dance and sang very quietly, just loud enough for everyone to hear:  
"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for."  
The beginning was intense. The audience seemed to come to a full stop when Dan spoke, then went back to full volume when the last of his line was uttered. He sang a few lines by himself, then the rest of his team joined him and it reached peak volume. Then the dance started. It was absolutely insane. There were horses, a woman strapped to a circular rotating piece of wood with knives being thrown at her, people holding and throwing burning torches, and someone jumping off of the "Irish giant's" shoulders, landing on a board with the woman who did trapeze on the other side, causing her to fly into the air. All of this was happening whilst everyone was singing and some dancing. The crowd went wild when they were done, about ten times as loud as they had been when it started.

The team bowed and waved everyone goodbye, slinking off backstage. Dan plunked down onto a chair, visibly tired. His team sat down in various places around him, all sweaty but happy. They could still hear the crowd, albeit muffled a little. Their cheers, claps, and whistles kept the team going. Knowing that they made a large group of people happy each night gave them a huge boost of- well, everything. Energy, confidence, happiness... it helped with it all. The team looked around at each other, grinning and emotional. They had grown closer than ever these past few weeks; they were glad to be apart of something huge like this. They were able to express their differences in a wonderful atmosphere every night. It was special.

Everyone wished each other goodnight, going to their respective homes. As Dan began the journey towards his, he noticed people shooting him dirty looks. He sighed. He thought to himself on how he could fix it, how he could make his name not be spit out of people's mouths like poison. He heard a song being whistled loudly by someone and looked up, seeing who it was. A man around his age, black suit, black hair, pale skin, head held high. He had a proud aura to him, as if by simply existing he was doing everyone a favor. Without even speaking to him, Dan knew he was a Lester. The Lesters were the most famous family in the town. They were rich and loved by everyone, and anyone who was friends or worked with a Lester was considered to be the same level of authority as one. Dan had found his solution.

The next day, he didn't have a show planned, so he walked around town, hoping to find the Lester he'd seen yesterday. He was pretty sure that the black-haired one he had encountered was the playwright. He walked, turning his head every second, waiting to see him. He suddenly recognized the Lester in a bar. He froze for a second, eyes fixed upon this figure. He was tall and skinny, his jet-black locks brushed back into what looked like a wave of hair. His suit fit him quite well, the fabric hugging his slim body. Dan was almost mesmerized before shaking himself out of it and striding into the bar. If Dan was going to get an apprentice, let alone a Lester, he would have to be confident.  
He sat next to the man, ordering himself drink and turning toward him, waiting for a chance to talk to him. The Lester was laughing and talking with someone else. The "someone else" in question finished their conversation and went to talk to another group, so the man turned back toward Dan. As soon as he recognized the brown curls, matching brown eyes, and full black outfit, his nose turned up and his face seemed to twist in disgust.  
"So you're Daniel Howell."  
Dan smirked and nodded. "And you're a Lester." The man squinted, seeming to examine Dan. "What do you want with me, Howell?"  
"Firstly, I'd like to know which Lester you are."  
"And why should I tell you?"  
"Because I have a proposal. A business proposal."  
The man sighed. "I'm Phil Lester. Now what is this 'proposal?'"  
Dan told Phil about his circus. About its success and how much people loved it. He told him about how some insulted the people of his show and how that gave him a bad name, but if he had Phil, he'd be loved and appreciated by all.  
Dan knew that all of the Lesters lived a life that he would find boring. Parties, plays, and whiskey is what everyone associated them with. They were upperclass, the type to wear fancy dresses and smart suits just to impress people who couldn't afford anything like it. Dan planned on using this to his advantage.  
"Listen up, Phil. There's potential here and I know you recognize that. If you came with me and my circus, you would be able to leave your boring fancy life. You could, of course, continue being formal and snobby, or you could risk it all with my circus and have a taste of what fun is like. You're practically stuck in a cage, but I have the key to get you out."  
Phil had his head cocked to the side and his eyes still squinted slightly. "Alright, Dan. I see. You want people to not hate you. You're desperate, I get it."  
Dan waited, the air tense. He hadn't said no, which was a good sign.  
"I'm afraid to tell you that I won't be able to do that."  
Dan sighed and dropped his head. Phil continued.  
"I admire you and your show. You're brave, gathering strange people and making something beautiful out of them. You're truly onto something, but I live in the upper class, Howell. I enjoy living the fancy life. I don't live in a cage, and you don't have a key."  
Phil chuckled a bit to himself as he got up to leave. Dan wasn't going to give up there, though.  
"Is this really how you'd like to live, Phil? Seeing plays, going to parties, not even being able to converse with the poor because you're so full of yourself? That seems pretty mediocre to me."  
"If I were to go with you, my entire life would crash down. A upperclassman speaking, let alone working with, a person who was almost living on the streets a few months ago? It's unheard of. What we're doing right now could even damage my reputation." Phil got up to leave again, and his back was already to Dan when the latter started speaking.  
"But you'd be able to actually _live._ Laughing, singing, and dancing almost every night. My team are the most energetic people you will ever meet, and you'll feel actual, raw emotion every night. What do you say?"  
Phil stopped walking toward the door. Dan took this as a victory. The atmosphere was tense again, the sounds of the rest of the bar seemed distant and blurred. Phil turned suddenly and sat back down with Dan. "Okay, let's say I did end up joining your show. Going would cost me immensely, so what percentage of the profit would I be getting?"  
Dan grinned. "Fair. Seven percent."  
Phil chuckled. "No. How about eighteen?"  
"Way too much."  
"Fifteen?"  
"I'd do eight."  
"Twelve?"  
"Maybe nine."  
"Ten."  
The last number was almost yelled by Phil. The bar-goers turned around and looked at them for a slight moment before continuing their conversations. Both men sat, staring at each other. Phil put his hand out for Dan to shake, and he took it. "You have yourself a deal, Howell. As well as a business partner."  
Dan smirked as they stopped shaking hands. This was just the first step in building his reputation. He would have to actually make it known that Phil was working with him. That he had a Lester by his side. Only then would the hate stop. But that was going to take some time.

* * *

Dan woke up, checking the calendar he had on his wall. They had a show planned today. He got up and dressed, fixing his shirt collar and fluffing his hair exactly how he wanted it. He grabbed his top hat off of the rack he had set by the door on his way out, placing it on his head as he headed toward the theater. The theater had been bought by Dan, so that on the outside it read "Daniel Howell's Circus." This was where he and his team preformed every show. It wasn't like a tour where they went to a different theater every night and preformed all over the country, it was just for that town and anyone who traveled there to see it. Dan liked that. He liked that it was special to his hometown, and he liked that if you didn't live in that town, you had to take time to get there. The idea that people went through the painstaking process of traveling from wherever they lived just to see him and his team made him feel that all of his hard work was worth it.

He soon arrived at the theater, greeting the team as he walked past them. He had told Phil where it was last night, but he told him to get there about thirty minutes after everyone else would have arrived. The team didn't know about Phil yet. There was no telling how they were going to react, but it hopefully wouldn't be too bad.

"Attention, everyone," he called, and they gathered around him, listening intently. "Now, as you all know, we have some people who dislike our show because they despise the fact it's run by 'freaks.'" They all nodded. "And I'm fairly sure you all know who the Lesters are." Again, they all nodded, but some had confused looks on their faces, wondering how those two things had any correlation. "So a few days ago, I was thinking. How could I change that? How could I get everyone to love our show? Then, Phil Lester passed by me on the street, and I thought maybe if I got a Lester to work with us, we could up our reputation. So I did."  
They all had shocked faces, but none were angry. "So you got an actual Lester working with us." One said, more of a statement than a question. Dan nodded. "Yes, and he's due to be here in about twenty minutes." Everyone froze for a second, then began to bustle around, making sure they looked nice. Dan smiled. He could tell Phil was going to like them.

He showed up a few minutes after Dan had told him to be there. He was wearing a suit similar to the one he'd worn yesterday, except this time it had hints of green and light blue on it. His top hat matched the colors of his suit, completely black minus a green and blue stripe right above the rim. Dan walked over and stuck out his hand for him to shake, and Phil took it. "Good morning to you, my good man." Dan said, and Phil smiled. The team were stealing looks at him, making sure he never caught them staring. They'd never been in the presence of a Lester, for before the show, they were outcasts. Now, however, they felt like royalty. They talked in small groups about him, but as Phil walked around, they quickly changed subjects. He walked over to one group and shook their hands, asked them how their morning had been, etc. They all made sure to seem as normal as possible, despite their huge differences. Phil didn't seem to notice or care that one man was about seven feet tall, or that one woman had a beard. He treated them like people, because that's who they were. He had been crude to Dan because he could ruin his reputation, but the damage had already been done. He secretly decided that he would finally be himself, the accepting, kind person he truly was, as soon as he had agreed to Dan's deal.

After he had talked to everyone, he went back to Dan. "Quite a team you have here," he commented, and Dan grinned. "I knew you would like them." Phil thought for a moment before speaking again. "So, what kind of show do you even do?"  
Dan told him about the singing, dancing, and insanity of his show. He told him about the trapezist, the woman on the wheel, and every other crazy thing that was in his circus. "Now, I'm usually a part of the show, which means I dance, but you don't know the routine. Tonight, I just want you to watch the show. I'll teach you the dance tomorrow." Phil nodded. A team member yelled, "Show's in an hour," and Dan jumped. "Oh! Well, I have to get everything set up. You go get the best seats you can before everyone starts coming in." Dan rushed off, leaving Phil alone. He walked into the stadium, and it felt like all of the air had been knocked out of him. He had been to plenty of theaters, seen plenty of shows, but this one looked like it was going to be amazing. The building was more like an indoor stadium, and there were bars hanging from the ceiling with a woman swinging from them. There were horses, and a dwarf man was on one of them, shooting a gun and running around the stadium. A wooden wheel with a woman strapped onto it was in the middle of the stage, and another woman was launching knives in the space of the wheel not covered by her body. Phil looked around in awe before snapping out of it and walking toward the seats, getting one near the bottom. He watched as Dan rushed around, asking everyone if they were ready. After it looked like everyone had said yes, they opened the doors and people started rushing in, trying to get good seats. Once everyone was in, he heard the people around him murmuring about him to each other. Phil ignored them. He was going to enjoy this.  
Suddenly, quietly intense music started playing. People screamed and stomped during certain parts of it, so Phil joined in. Then, they abruptly stopped, and very, very faintly, he heard Dan singing from behind him and under the stands. He whipped around and saw him through the cracks, and Dan shot him a smirk before continuing. He got louder and louder before his entire team was singing with him, along with the audience. Phil didn't know the lyrics, so he stayed silent and just listened. These people had obviously seen this several times. He did see a few people who seemed to be in the same situation as him, as they confusedly attempted to sing along. They started dancing and doing their routine, and Phil's jaw was dropped the entire time. It was absolutely _insane._  
The show went on for some time, people cheering and clapping and screaming the entire time. Phil couldn't keep his eyes on one thing for more than a few seconds. He was going to love being a part of this.


End file.
